Oxen, used primarily for draft power, are a recent introduction and Figure 9-2
are not part of the traditional social system. They are generally owned by Diagram of a Typical Village in Mkushi District
men, though some are owned by women. Men manage oxen for land preparation and other uses. Women who own oxen have their plowing ...................
done by male relatives or by hiring or exchange arrangements. Some .
farmers hire custom oxen or tractor operators for land preparation. I".". "
Land is readily available and is allocated by the village headmen. 
People do not cultivate all the area allocated to them. Female-headed I. "'_,
households have access to land through the village headmen, and, once acquired, they can keep it for as long as they want. Generally, married E.AA A M I 'A
women who prefer to have their own fields acquire land through their % AAA'
husbands or relatives; this also applies to junior males and females. In A A A A
some instances, these assigned plots are part of the general rotation of / AqAAA AAE A
fields farmed by the household.
Inheritance is largely patrilineal. When the head of a household dies,
his or her relatives determine the inheritor, usually a son or nephew, who ".. AV
inherits the responsibility for caring for any dependents. The cultural view '"
is that husbands know what is best for the household.
The common dish in Mkushi District consists of nsbima accompanied by relish (a sidedish made with vegetables or meat). Nsbima is a thick porridge made from maize meal, sorghum meal, millet meal, or cassava .......
meal. The most preferred is made of white maize meal. The common relishes in Mkushi District are boiled beans, meat or chicken curry, and veg- Legend
etables. Groundnuts are used as a substitute for cooking oil in the preparation of vegetables. Nsbima is eaten during lunch and dinner. In Village headman's house Dambo gardens (dry season)
 Independent households Cattle kraal
between meals, snacks such as roasted groundnuts, fruits, and roasted or A Housing for children and household dependents Water well (ca. 1.5 km from village)
boiled green maize are taken. Popular beverages are sorghum beer and j Backyard gardens for vegetables River or stream
tnunkoyo Munko)'o is nonalcoholic and is usually made from maize por- Main field for maize, sorghum, and millet 4 Dambo areas
ridge into which the munkoyo root is put, dissolving the porridge into Roads ....... Village boundary
lumps of porridge and liquid. The mixture is sieved and the liquid drunk. It is particularly popular during the cultivation season as it can be taken Notes
to the fields. During the food shortage times, nsbima is taken at dinner. 1. On the average, main fields are about 1.5 km from the village.
During the (lay families depend on snacks, usually roasted maize and 2. Each village has only one kraal for all the cattle in the village.
3. Water wells are located near the rivers although during the wet season
fruits such as mangoes, bananas, and papaya. A diagram of a typical vil- people may use another well close to the village.
lage in the Mkushi District is shown in Figure 9-2. 4. The village boundary is usually determined by the area tribal chief,
although the grazing grounds are communal for all the farmers in the area.
were supported by a rural sociologist and a nutritionist who functioned on ARPT ACTIVITIES a national level. Using a farming systems focus, the ARPT identified problems facing farmers and then concentrated on testing out possible technoThe multidisciplinary USAID and MAWD farming systems research and logical solutions on farmers' fields under the conditions faced by the farmextension team in the Central Province was composed of positions for an ers. The sequence of activities used by the ARPT to understand farmers'
agronomist, an agricultural econor-ist, and a research extension liaison of- problems and to determine acceptable recommendations is described in
licef, which were filled by cxpat. iates and Zambians. While agronomic Appendix 9-A. The three initial diagnostic activities were a zoning survey,
and economic disciplines formed the core of each provincial ARPT, these an informal survey, and a labor survey.